Pathway to Sydian: Guardian of the Gate
by dyoung2750
Summary: A young boy named Ziaxe realizes that his sanctuary town Berania is not as peaceful as it should be... When framed for the killing of the King, he must escape and find a way to save his Kingdom from an old but familiar darkness.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The Tale of Creation

-a short summary of the Book of Sarben

In the beginning, the gods ruled the universe, creating life and beauty with a wave of their hands. The master of the gods was Valsla, and He was the mightiest and most powerful of the gods. He gave life and power to the other gods and has been regarded as the Father of the Gods in many other tales and legends.

As the gods lived their immortal lives, they began to experiment with their power by creating whatever their divine minds could think of. Eventually, their divine power created the world and the beasts that live on it. From the horses that majestically gallop across the fields to the birds that fly through the vast sky to the fish that swim the deep oceans, the gods created it all. They also created the mortals and gave them long life, letting them live up to three hundred years old at most.

And so the gods appointed a mighty god as overseer of the new world. This god was Ziavaxe. And with a council of lesser gods, Ziavaxe ruled the world and watched over its inhabitants.

But, despite the excellent work the gods had done, the world still lived in darkness. The creatures in the world lived in the shadows peacefully though. They called themselves Ziaxes, Men of Darkness, for they were followers of the Great God of Darkness Ziavaxe.

For a few generations of men, the Ziaxes lived in the darkness. They adapted to the world, learning ways to find food and shelter, and they grew eyes that could see through even the darkest shadow. Some of the Ziaxes even learned how to control the darkness and created dark magic.

Though all had seemed peaceful, something happened in the year 998 that changed the way the Ziaxes lived forever. A younger god named Sarben created light. He showed His creation to the other gods and they said, "Go unto the mortal world, Great Sarben, and show the mortals thy miracle!"

And thus Sarben became the Great God of Light and ruled the world with a council of lesser gods alongside Ziavaxe. Sarben created a great sphere of light in the Heavens and called it the "sun." He also made a sphere that did not shine as brightly as the sun called the "moon." Alongside the moon were hundreds upon thousands of smaller stars that He made to shine away the darkness.

But Ziavaxe was outraged to have his power over the world shared by such a younger god. So the two gods held council with each other and decided to make two separate peoples: one that worshipped the light and one that worshipped the dark. The creatures of light were called Sarbenians while the creatures of darkness stayed with the same name of Ziaxes. They also divided the times of each day calling the beginning of the day when the sun shined brightest the "morning" while the later part of the day when darkness was at its greatest the "night."

The Sarbenians flourished on the Islands of the East calling their land Sarbenia. Among them were mortals of great pureness that could control light magic. These mortals were called Sargens; they were known as the blessed people of Sarben. The Sargens started the Sarbenian line of royalty for Sarben had blessed them with the pureness of true kings.

In the south, across the Great Channel, the Ziaxes were growing in their land they called Vilaria. The Vilarians expanded from their capital city Eyran to the north, south, east, and west.

As the years went by, Sarbenia grew stronger and vaster. The kingdom's capital was Nizrock, a glorious city on the Islands of the East. It was King Trian the Great who led a great expansion from the Eastern Islands to the continent in the west. They expanded north, west, and south reaching as far as possible.

By the year 2670, the Sarbenian and Vilarian kingdoms made contact across the Great Channel and thus started their rivalry. Battles erupted from the Sarbenians and the Vilarians. These battles erupted from random periods of time for thousands of years.

On the year 3050, King Vacaldon the Ruthless of Vilaria attacked South Sarbenia; this became known as the Southern War. After the Ziaxes won the war and conquered much of South Sarbenia, the pure Sargens felt that their land was becoming tainted with the enemy's darkness. And so, most of the Sargens took a great ship over the Eastern Sea to find new untouched lands. The only Sargens that stayed behind were the ones of the royal line who stayed to continue their rule over Sarbenia.

But then, on the year 3112, Great Sarben, the God of Light, was disgusted at the tainting of His land and the loss of His blessed Sargens. So He came unto the world and blessed one of His priests with the ability to live in the darkness and the light. The priest's name was Lexar, and he used the ability to help keep balance between the two kingdoms. He became known as the Balancer of Light and Darkness, the Nizain.

When Lexar grew old, his power was blessed onto his oldest child. And so the power of the Nizain passed onto every new generation, keeping balance between the light and dark.

And so all was peaceful until the year 5000 when the unexpected happened, and the Dark King Rauchton of Vilaria led a great naval attack against Nizrock, the capital of Sarbenia. A four year siege took place and Nizrock fell.

After the great city fell, the kingdom of Sarbenia held a great council. Zar, King of Sarbenia at that time, decided to divide the vast kingdom, in hope to protect it from further invasions. He divided the kingdom between himself and his two sons. Zar ruled over the northern part of Sarbenia and called it Zaria. His son, Larlo, inherited the middle part of the kingdom and named it Sargenia for he was pure with Sargen blood. And finally, Zar's second son, Ravil, was given the southern part of Sarbenia that was not conquered by Vilaria and named it Ravilla.

And so, throughout the years, the followers of Sarben, the Great God of Light, knew they would always be safe from the harm of the God Ziavaxe and His evil shadows as long as they worshipped their Great God and prayed for His divine protection.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A Day in Berania

Ziaxe always thought there was something strange about his walled hometown of Berania. Unlike other cities in the kingdom of Sargenia, Berania was surrounded by what people called the "Great Walls": four walls of great height, width, and length that formed a square around the city. This city was the capital of the kingdom, but Ziaxe failed to see anything magnificent about it. He was sure there were better places in the world where people lived more freely. Despite that, throughout all the places he would ever see in his life, Berania was his only true home. He would see many more wonderful and fascinating places in his life, but none of them had the same at-home feeling that Berania had.

The city was divided into a rich district and a poor district. The northern end of the city was the rich and the southern end that Ziaxe lived in was the poor. In the north, Ziaxe could see the tall, grand buildings of the rich district appearing regal and majestic compared to his house and the many other peasants' houses. The rich district was about half a mile away down the dirt road that went from between the two districts.

As he thought about the strange things about his city, he thought of the fact that he had never stepped outside the Great Walls. It gave him a sense of sadness and longing for the outside world that grew inside him every time he would see a bird fly over the Wall. _The birds don't know how lucky they are,_ he had thought.

He got up off his bed in his little peasant house and walked over to the window of his room. He was greeted by a bright, burning sun that shone through the window. As he looked out, he could see the other houses of the poor district adjacent to his. The houses stood on each side of the dirt road as it ran around the corner at the end of the street to return north.

He walked over to his water basin and picked up his small oval shaped mirror that lay on a small dresser. Both the water basin and the dresser were bathed in the morning light coming through the window. Looking at the mirror, he saw his dark hair that was a little too long and in need of a trim. His eyes were hazel and he was rather skinny for his age-living in the poor district, he rarely got more than a meager amount of food each day. He was also about five feet tall and could easily touch his room's short ceiling. He was fifteen years old and his birthday was near the end of the month.

At the age of sixteen, he would be eligible to join the Beranian army. Usually people were not too excited about joining the army because it was sometimes a perilous career that could cost a man his life, but Ziaxe was curious of the outside world and saw that being a soldier would be the only way out of Berania's Walls. He had been training extra hard for his opportunity to join.

He walked over to a corner of his room and picked something up off the ground. It was a wooden sword; its wooden blade was strong and sturdy so it would be hard for it to break. The wooden sword was used for practicing his swordsmanship. Ziaxe had gotten this sword almost three years ago when he was thirteen years old from his friend Kron.

Thinking of his friend reminded him of something…. The sun was slightly over the Eastern Wall so that meant it was nearing eight o'clock in the morning. He was late for class.

He quickly got dressed in a ragged tunic and hose and washed his face in his basin. When he was done, he left his room to the main room of the house. In the main room, he could see the front door that led outside to the road, the small archway to the kitchen, and the closed door to his uncle's room. A dining table sat in the middle of the main room surrounded by four chairs. It was a rare occasion whenever he or his uncle actually ate at this table together though.

Ziaxe looked around the main room for his uncle. He did not expect him to be there though.

"Hello?" yelled Ziaxe. "Alben? Where are you?" He knocked on the closed door of his uncle's room, but there was no response. "He's probably out drinking again," he groaned to himself.

He always found it hard to believe that he was related to a man like Alben. Alben was Ziaxe's uncle on his mother's side. He usually sat around the cottage while Ziaxe was doing work and chores. The only time he ever left was when he went to work in the crop fields north of their house.

One of the irritating qualities of Alben was his drinking problem. Rum was Alben's favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was a miracle if you ever saw him without a tankard full of some kind of liquor in his hand. Everyone could tell he had a drinking problem, but he was always too stubborn to admit it. Ziaxe had tried to help him in the past, but he had become accustomed to just ignoring Alben during his drunken rages.

He left his house and was greeted by the warm sun. It was a warm morning for September with the grass gleaming with dew and the birds tweeting in delight. He walked out onto the road, looking around at the other houses bustling with people waking up to the morning inside. Many of the buildings were homes to his friends; they were all made out of wood, each with different architectural designs. Some had flat roofs while others had triangular tipped roofs; some also had fields behind them for crops or raising livestock. And some houses had multiple doors and windows while others may have had only one of each. Each house had its own individuality with their residents each doing a special job to support the kingdom.

The Great Southern Wall stood only a few yards south from the street to Ziaxe's right while the Great Eastern Wall could be seen in front of him past a large pond. Behind Ziaxe's house, there was a field of long, wild grass that stretched a few miles until it reached the Great Western Wall.

His first neighbor on the right side of the street a few feet from his house was his best friend Kron. Kron was a little more muscular than Ziaxe, and Ziaxe had always, in a way, looked up to him. He was already sixteen and ready to join the army. They had decided to go join the army together and try to do missions with each other.

The two knew each other ever since Kron first came to Berania at the age of five. Kron's childhood was a mystery to Ziaxe because he had never left the city walls before. This had always made Ziaxe wonder even more on the fact that there were places in the world other than Berania. In the past, he had tried to question Kron about what life was like before Berania, but Kron always replied, "I don't remember," and it irritated Ziaxe terribly.

Kron walked out of his house and joined Ziaxe.

"Good morning" he said with a smile. "We're going to be late. Where's Venna?"

"Still home, I think," replied Ziaxe.

Kron had short bronze hair that seemed to reflect the sun light and his blue eyes looked like the ocean that Ziaxe had never seen. They went over to the house across from Kron's.

When they reached the house, a girl walked out. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes. Her name was Venna and she was fifteen years old.

"Hello, you two," said Venna joyfully as she joined Ziaxe and Kron in the walk to class. She walked on the left of Kron while Ziaxe was on his right. Kron stood a couple inches taller than the others looking like a true man compared to them.

"Hello, Venna," said Kron. "How are you today?"

"I'm good," replied Venna with a bright smile. "How are you guys?"

"I'm fine, though I am a little tired. Something was in my backyard last night. I went to look for it, but I didn't find anything."

"Oh? You too? I heard something last night too. Well it sounded like it could have been someone, but I can't even imagine what kind of strange person would be outside that late at night."

"Aye," said Kron with a chuckle.

"What about you, Ziaxe? I haven't heard anything from you yet?" Venna smiled at Ziaxe, showing her bright, white teeth, and made a gentle laugh.

Ziaxe was staring in the distance at the pond a couple yards away. He had always been shy around Venna because he could not help but think that Venna was really pretty. "Uh… I'm fine," replied Ziaxe. He looked out over the flat fields in the north, and he could see the Beranian Castle and the more royal buildings and families in the far distance. Those fields were also used for farming crops for the upcoming harvest.

They walked silently for a couple of feet. Ziaxe was used to the awkward silence around Venna. Usually Kron was there to help with a conversation.

"Soo…" Venna started saying. "I hear it's your birthday soon, Ziaxe. How old are you going to be again?"

"Uh… yes," said Ziaxe. "I'll be sixteen. Kron and I were going to join the army, right, Kron?"

Kron was staring ahead when he heard his name. "Aye," he replied.

"Really?" inquired Venna. "You guys are really going to join the army? Won't it be dangerous?"

"I guess it will be," Kron said. "But Ziaxe and I want to see the outside world."

"Outside world? I'd like to see the outside world too. Haven't you seen it before though, Kron?"

"Well… I don't remember anything that happened before Berania though. That was a long time ago and I don't know anything about my parents. I'd like to find out why they seemed to have left me here."

"Aye…. It's strange. I don't remember when you first came here either. I guess I was only four years old when you came. Your foster parents have told us about how you were brought here though…. It looks like joining the army is a great opportunity to be able to go to whatever great places are outside of Berania."

"Right…. But you have to think about what could be out there. Most of the people here have never gone past the walls in their life. I just think it's strange and—"

He was interrupted by a loud crash coming from a nearby house on their left. There was a movement behind it, and a boy came out pushing an older man in front of him. Sadly, Ziaxe recognized the man.

"Guess what I found, Ziaxe?" said the boy angrily.

The man the boy was pushing was walking dizzily toward Ziaxe. He was his uncle Alben.

"Hey… uh… Ziaxe," Alben struggled to say through his drunken state as he swayed back and forth.

"Oh come on," said Ziaxe to himself. He examined the drunken man. His uncle had light brownish hair and brown eyes. He was covered in cuts and scratches from doing his strange drunken antics. His tunic was torn and had a couple of dirt spots on it. The tunic was probably clean and white at one time but now as it was covered in dirt Ziaxe thought that it was an unbelievable theory. Alben's brown hose was torn at the bottom and had a few holes in it. But the one thing Ziaxe saw strange was that Alben was carrying a bunch of random objects like fruits, vegetables, clothes, and firewood.

"It looks like your uncle was having a stealing spree last night," said the boy with a scowl. "You're lucky I don't report you to the royal guard!"

He gave Alben a hard push forward. The drunken man tripped and fell flat on his face sending the random objects scattering all over the ground.

"Alben!" yelled Ziaxe worriedly as he knelt down to his uncle and helped him off the ground.

"What's wrong with you, Kycan?" Kron asked the boy angrily. His hand was in a tight fist and he looked like he was about to let out a fiery ball of rage on the boy.

Kycan was a sixteen year old boy who always tried to irritate Ziaxe and his friends in any way possible. He had short blonde hair and large muscular arms. Rumors said that he was going to join the army along with Ziaxe and Kron during the next chance they had.

"My problem is that this bastard won't stay off my property!" yelled the boy enraged with his hands in tight fists like Kron's.

"You don't have to treat Ziaxe's uncle like that though!"

"What are you going to do about it!"

"Stop, guys!" yelled Venna as she got in between Kron and Kycan. "We don't need to fight, and besides… we're all late to class and Professor Alavar will punish us if we're not on time. So come on!"

Kron sighed and relaxed his fist. "She's right," he said.

Kycan grinned as if thinking he had won the battle. "All right, Kron," He said through his devilish grin. "Go along with your little girlfriend."

Kron's ears turned red. "She's not my girlfriend."

Ziaxe looked at Kron and saw him make an uneasy look at him then he swiftly looked away. Ziaxe always knew that Kron thought about Venna just like he had. They had shared their secrets many times before.

"_Okay_," said Kycan sarcastically.

Ziaxe walked up in front of Kycan. "That's enough, Kycan," he said as bravely as he could.

"Oh, so now the little one speaks," said Kycan angrily as he moved closer to Ziaxe's face. "You must be crazy trying to pick a fight with me. I will crush you!"

Ziaxe gulped and took a deep breath. "I don't care, Kycan. It's time to get to class."

"Oh, I see. You're trying to sneak out of this fight like you do with all of the other fights in your life!"

Ziaxe instantly thought of all the times when Alben was drunk and he had hidden from his drunken strolls around the house. He felt a surge of anger run through him. His teeth started grinding hard, and he glared at Kycan. His hands formed fists, but he had no thought of what he was doing.

They stood in silence for a moment, and Kycan's eyes slowly started to widen. His jaw went ajar and he seemed to be showing a new emotion… fear.

"Ziaxe…" said Kycan slowly. "Your eyes…." He suddenly backed away from Ziaxe and ran away to the pond. "Get away from me, you freak!" he yelled as he ran.

Ziaxe blinked and relaxed his muscles. "What just happened?" he asked Kron and Venna.

He turned around to face them, and they looked just as confused as he felt. "What's wrong with my eyes?" he asked.

After a brief and slightly awkward examination, with her face inches from his, Venna said, "Nothing… that I can see."

"We didn't see anything wrong earlier," answered Kron. "It's probably nothing."

Ziaxe decided to agree. He had to get Alben safely home, but he would miss class if he was delayed any longer.

He stared at his uncle who was now rocking on his feet, back and forth, dizzily. The poor, intoxicated man, clueless of what he was doing, fell forward back on the ground. Ziaxe sighed deeply at the thought of how pathetic his uncle was.

"That's it," said Ziaxe, making up his mind. He looked at his friends. "Let's get to class."

"But Ziaxe," said Venna. "You can't leave your uncle like this."

"Why not?" inquired Ziaxe. He looked back down to his uncle in disgust. "What good has he ever done?"

"Don't say that," said Venna softly. "He's taken good care of you all these years."

"What are you talking about!" Ziaxe found himself yelling. "He's been nothing but a horrible relative. I don't even see how we could be related!"

"But… Ziaxe…" Venna looked at the ground. She had always been so nice and gentle. Ziaxe realized that he may have never seen her act angry before, and she was not going to start now. She had always tried to keep smiles on everyone's faces, but now it looked like she might be losing her own. Ziaxe knew she was only trying to get him to do what is right... but he didn't want to help the cruelest man he had ever known.

There was a long moment of silence between them. Ziaxe refused to make eye contact with her.

Kron put his arm around Venna and said, "Come on, Venna…. We're late."

Ziaxe looked back at Kron and saw a look that was probably the same disgusted look that he had been giving to Alben. It was like looking in some invisible mirror, and it made him feel disappointed in himself. Kron and Venna started walking away towards the pond.

Sadness overcame Ziaxe while he watched Kron walk away with Venna. Then a sudden burst of jealousy flowed through him. He knew that Kron knew how he felt for Venna… but he could not help feeling that Kron might have the same feelings….

Taking one last look at Alben, he turned toward the pond and slowly walked far behind Kron and Venna. He refused to help Alben. _I know he'll just wake up and trudge home for even more rum eventually,_ he thought.

Before the pond there were several boulders on the grass. One huge boulder almost as tall as a grown adult stood in the very center of them. Around the huge boulder was a circle of nine smaller boulders, and outside of that circle was another circle of nine small boulders.

The boulders seemed to have been placed in these specific spots physically many years ago. This spot was always used for Professor Alavar's classes. The professor would always sit upon the large boulder in the center while his eighteen students would sit on the small boulders around him. Ziaxe was one of those students, and over the years he had learned many things from the brilliant professor.

Ziaxe stared out to the pond beyond the boulders. His eyes gazed to the far end of the pond where the water drifted off into a stream; from there the stream ran straight through a round culvert about a half mile away in the Great Eastern Wall. The culvert was tall and wide enough to fit the width of the stream. It had strong iron bars that kept out everything except fish, water, or any other small creatures that could fit between the bars.

He saw that the other students were all getting seated on the many small boulders. Venna and Kron entered the outer circle of boulders and sat on two of them near the pond's edge. Kycan was also there, and he sat on a boulder behind the bigger boulder in the center. Ziaxe decided to grab a seat away from the three of them in the outer circle. He sat on a boulder between a sandy haired boy and a brown haired girl in the back row, away from the other three.

As he took his seat, the brown haired girl looked at him with big blue eyes and smiled. Returning a confused smile to her, Ziaxe awkwardly looked at the big boulder in the middle. He knew this girl but sadly, could not remember her name. They had never had a real conversation before.

On the center boulder sat Professor Alavar cross-legged. He was a middle-aged man, his age nearing two hundred years old, who had white balding hair and a short white beard. He wore half-moon spectacles that covered eyes full of knowledge. This man was one of the only people in Berania's poor district to have had any real education.

He was said to have lived outside of the city walls in some other faraway city at one point in his life, but the Great King Broniton of Sargenia had given him the job of teaching the children of Berania. For some strange reason, the professor had taken a house in the poor district to live in while others might have thought he would pick a rich and beautiful house in the rich district instead. Some said he grew dull of the big rich cities of Sargenia and wanted to live in the small secluded part of Berania instead. But others said his kind and knowledge loving nature got the best of him, and he chose a small cottage shaped house to teach the peasants of Berania. Either way the people thought, they could all agree that Alavar was a brilliant and tender man.

"All right, children," said the Professor in a clear, joyful voice. "Is everyone here?"

The students started looking around adding the students to make sure all eighteen were there. Ziaxe quickly ducked his head down to examine his shoes to avoid any angry looks from Kron, Venna, or Kycan. This was turning out to be a bad day for him so far now that his best friends were angry with him and his oldest enemy thought he was a monster with strange eyes.

"Yes… that's all eighteen, Professor," said one of the boy students.

"All right," replied Alavar happily. Ziaxe raised his head to see the professor smiling a joyous smile as if the man thought teaching was the greatest thing in the world. "Today, children, we will be reviewing what we've learned."

The other students all nodded in agreement. This seemed easy enough for Ziaxe. _All right,_ thought Ziaxe. _Let's get this over with…. I need to apologize to Venna…._

"Okay then, we will be discussing the History of Berania…." He took a few moments to gather his thoughts as his fingers twirled the end of his beard. "First question… an easy one to start us off… who is our king at this period of time."

Several hands flew up into the air to reply. Alavar searched the crowd and picked someone. "Yes, Nea?"

The girl next to Ziaxe gave the answer in a soft, timid voice. "It's King Broniton, of course."

_Oh, that's her name, _thought Ziaxe.

"Yes, correct," said Alavar with a grin. "Now… next question… when were the Great Walls of Berania built?"

Another flurry of hands flew into the air. The Professor picked another student. "In the year forty-seven twenty-five, right?" answered the boy sitting next to Ziaxe, "after the Yasson Harvorens ransacked Berania."

"Yes, you're right, Srion" replied Alavar. "Now… what happened in the Vician War?"

The process of the hands flying in the air repeated itself and Alavar picked another boy. "Uh… the King Vician led the Vidians of Vidala to a war against all of the Sarbenian kingdoms."

"Correct again," replied the Professor. "Now… let's remember… who were the armies in the Vician War?"

Another boy answered the question, "King Vician led the Vidians, the Thrans, the Vilarians, and the Dremuns against King Broniton who led the Sargenians, Zarians, and Mintonite Harvorens."

"Yes correct," replied the Professor putting on a solemn stare. "Vician had planned this campaign for many years. He called it the "Rebalancing of the World" thinking that with brute force he could take the place of the Nizain and balance the light and dark. And so in sixty-nine forty-five, over one hundred years ago, he led his armies to the Kingdoms of Sarbenia.

"His followers, the Vidians, led the front striking fear in all of their enemies with their monstrous appetite for killing innocents!" The Professor began shouting in his famous speech voice as he stood up on his boulder with a distant look on his face as if he was remembering it like it was yesterday. "The Vidians of Vidala would forever strike fear to the hearts of men.

"The Thrans! A people devoted almost entirely to war craft marched behind slaughtering whoever was foolish enough to stand in their way! Their giant blades came down upon the chests of hundreds of men! The casualties of that war nearly matched the number of shining stars in the night sky.

"The Dremuns, the people who seceded from Sargenia years ago, showed the world their clever strategies that almost tricked our great King several times! The foolish traitors who abandoned us in our greatest time of need joined the enemy!

"And finally, the Vilarians, the worst of them all! May Sarben's light burn their King Varlidi to the ground until his soul is dragged down to the Demons below! They left no mercy for our people.

"But… when all hope seemed lost, our army grew and conquered! Our cousins in Zaria brought their great armies to our aid. And with the support of Emperor Yaron the third of Harvoren, the Army of the North grew menacingly large!

"And so, in the year sixty-nine fifty-three, outside these very walls, was the Battle of Berania. After many hours of fighting, our Great King Broniton came down to the plain just past the southern wall and yelled out 'If thou art as mighty as the words of the South claim thee to be, take up thy blade and duel with me, Accursed Vician! The senseless fighting ends here!'

"Vician, knowing that he must accept the challenge lest his people would see him as a coward, took up his weapon and charged to the center of the plain. His weapon has brought fear and pain wherever it goes. The scythe with three sharp, deadly blades was his only weapon; it was all he ever needed.

"King Broniton went to Vician with a weapon so fascinating that it goes beyond all human understanding. It was a sword that gleamed as bright as the sun. Tears of pure light dripped from the blade like fresh blood. The people who witnessed the battle called it the 'Sword of Light.'

"The Sargenians knew though that this weapon was the weapon of the Nizain. This bright, shining blade was used—as far back as history can tell—by the very first Nizain, Lexar. The fact that King Broniton had such a mighty weapon suggested to many people that he somehow had obtained the Power of the Nizain…."

Everyone sat surprised in silence. No one truly knew what the "Sword of Light" was. Ziaxe knew nothing about the Nizain or the Nizain's weapons. He did not even know who the new Nizain was.

After a long moment of silence as Alavar stared out at the south wall, he took in a deep breath and returned to his story, "The true battle began then… with King Broniton and King Vician, with each of their blades spreading fear in each army. By the end of the battle, Broniton dealt a fatal blow to the Accursed King. But alas! before our Great King could end the enemy's life, a witch came to her master's side; she summoned many hideous Demons to attack Broniton as she escaped with Vician's nearly dead body. After the retreat of their king, the Armies of the South were defeated and Berania returned to peace."

And so the professor's speech ended. The two circles around him became utterly silent as they were amazed by his story. After a few seconds, a boy in the crowd began clapping his hands, and he was soon followed by the rest of them. A roaring applause with cheers of praise began to surround the professor.

Professor Alavar smiled, adjusted his glasses, and sat back down on the boulder. "I think that is enough for today, children. Good class today!"

Ziaxe was glad to get out of there. He jumped off of his boulder along with the other students and walked to Kron and Venna.

"Hey, guys," said Ziaxe.

Kron looked a little angry but he said, "Hello, Ziaxe, how's your uncle?"

Ziaxe realized he forgot all about his uncle. His friends probably thought he had taken care of him already. "Oh…" he said, thinking of what to say. "He's fine."

He hoped Kron could not tell he was lying. Kron looked over past Ziaxe to observe something. Ziaxe slowly turned around in curiosity, but he did not see anything important. He saw where they were with Alben and Kycan before class started and saw that his uncle was luckily not there.

"Okay, Ziaxe," said Kron. "Now what should we do?"

Ziaxe and Kron were sitting on the two boulders by the pond. This was their usual spot where they would take some time to relax after a busy day. Sometimes they would go fishing or practice their sword fighting or even just talk. Today they were just talking. All of the other students had left including Venna and Kycan.

Looking at the eastern wall, they could see that the sun had left and was setting behind them in the west. The wall was over a half a mile away, and Ziaxe would sometimes feel tempted to try to climb over it. But that would be suicide…. The walls were taller than all of the buildings in his part of Berania. The walls were roughly about half as tall as the Beranian Castle….

The Beranian Castle was almost in the center of Berania. The castle was several stories tall. It had dozens of towers and turrets and was surrounded by a wall that was smaller than the Great Walls but still strong and massive enough to stop any intruders. Ziaxe had expected it to be full of hundreds of people who could easily get lost in the many rooms and corridors.

"So Ziaxe," said Kron starting a conversation. "Uh… what are you doing for your birthday? Anything special?"

Ziaxe was staring in the direction of the Beranian Castle. He could see a huge turret near the top of the castle. He had never been in the castle before and probably never will. "Uh…" wondered Ziaxe. "I don't think so…. You know Alben never does anything fun." He sneered at that thought.

"Aye," said Kron remembering Ziaxe's birthdays. Ziaxe never did anything fun or entertaining on his birthdays… mostly because of Alben not giving him an approval for it. "But this is going to be your sixteenth birthday. It may be your most important one. You'd think he'd be nice enough to give you some gift for it."

"You'd think…. He probably wouldn't even give me rum for my twenty-first birthday."

Kron chuckled under his breath. Ziaxe saw him and could not help himself from also laughing.

"You do that a lot don't you?" asked Kron, with a smile.

"What?" said Ziaxe perplexed.

"You think about the future too much."

There was a silence between them for a few moments as Ziaxe thought about that. "Aye… I guess I do," said Ziaxe, realizing it for the first time.

"You don't even know if we'll live to be twenty-one," said Kron losing his smile.

"Hey, don't say that!" said Ziaxe with a serious face. "We're going to be great warriors in the Beranian Army, and then we're going to retire…" he swallowed hard but hoped that Kron did not notice, "or die… for our kingdom's honor."

"There you go again…."

"Oh… sorry…."

Ziaxe stared out to the pond. The sun was disappearing more by the second. He soon could barely see anything.

Then he saw something. Out past the pond, by the culvert on the Eastern Great Wall, he saw it.

Something was moving out there, but he could not make out what it was. It looked like a man, a strong, muscular man, but how could a man have gotten through the bars of the culvert. The culvert was too short and small and the bars were too close together for anyone to squeeze through.

The figure started walking slowly northward as it leaned against the wall in a limp. Though he did not know it, this was the first strange experience that would start Ziaxe's adventure.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The Fight

That night, when Ziaxe went to sleep, he was plunged into a strange dream.

He was in darkness…. Pure darkness…. He could not see his hands or anything around him. Though the space around him seemed strange and frightening, he felt a strange… warmth inside as if he had been here before. There was no ground or walls… just darkness…. He felt a strange feeling of freedom that he had never known before.

Looking around, he noticed that there was something ahead of him. He could just barely make out the dim outline of what looked like a person. A sudden movement of the figure startled him. It started moving in the shadows as if it was one of them.

Ziaxe stood in fear waiting for something to react to, but for several seconds nothing happened. Then suddenly a voice pierced the darkness.

_It is nice to see thee, young one._

The voice seemed to speak within his mind like a thought of his own. It was definitely a male voice though; it was deep and majestic like a born leader or like the voice of a grand king. He did not comprehend what was happening, but his own thoughts replied to the voice.

_Er… who's there?_ he thought.

A silence took over the conversation for a few moments as if the voice was thinking to itself. Then it spoke again, _Thou cannot see me?_

Ziaxe found this question absurd since he was in pure darkness; even now, after the few minutes he had been there, his eyes had still not adjusted to the shadows. Despite the fact that he felt like he was blind, he looked around again. The darkness around him felt thick and strangely seemed tangible. He shook his hand in front of him and felt the darkness move around him in a misty form.

He was sure that he saw someone in the darkness, but he could not be sure it was even a person. For all he knew, the outline could be of some kind of tree with leaves blowing in the breeze. The only problem was… there was no breeze.

_I'm not sure…. It's too dark._ He replied.

_Too dark?_ said the voice quizzically, as if Ziaxe made some kind of illogical statement. Then the voice sighed deeply and said, _Thou hast lived among the wrong people for far too long._

_What do you mean?_ asked Ziaxe. He was confused, frightened, and interested all at the same time.

_I mean exactly what I said…. I never expected a child of thy heritage… and name to be living with the filth thou live with now._

Ziaxe instantly thought of his uncle. Could that be what the voice was talking about? _But what does he mean by heritage… and what's wrong with my name?_ he tried to think to himself, but the voice read his thoughts like a simple sign.

_Aye, thy uncle is one of the many people I speak of. And I would not be surprised if thou did not even know thy heritage…. Thou art living a lie; thou should know that by now. _

Ziaxe's eyes opened wide as he took in the words. How could he be 'living a lie?' It was preposterous. Slightly shaking, he responded, _what do you mean?_

_Never mind…. It seems thou cannot learn anything in the dark. So I must go right to my reason for coming to thy sleep. Thou shall find thy world in darkness, and thou shall decide its fate. _

Suddenly, Ziaxe saw more movement in the darkness, not where he thought the voice was coming from but from the darkness around him. The shadows themselves started swaying as they began to enclose around him. Slowly moving towards him in great wave like forms, the shadows closed in on him.

_They say my brother was the brilliant one, but I say no!_ continued the voice, his voice getting furious and full of rage. _But now it is time for the decision to be made! _

Closer and closer, the shadows came around Ziaxe. He barely noticed what the voice was saying. He started to back away from the impending darkness, but his plan quickly failed when he backed into a huge wave of darkness.

Strangely, the darkness had form and it was moving like a living creature. The darkness felt strangely slimy and squishy as it began to engulf Ziaxe. It was barely visible since it was the same color as the atmosphere around him. Fear filled his body. He was truly terrified for the first time in his life.

_But they shall see. The choice will be made, and it shall be the Immortal Mortal! _

The darkness engulfed Ziaxe completely. He was slowly falling backwards into the darkness. He felt as if he would continue falling forever. He looked around himself, but nothing could be seen…. He screamed, but nothing could be heard. He felt a strange feeling of worthlessness as if everything he did or ever would do would accomplish nothing.

Then when he was sure he was going to be lost forever in nothingness, a small bright light shone above him. The darkness was disappearing as it slowly cringed away from the light like recoiling fingers, and Ziaxe regained his sight. The blinding light shone beautifully ahead of him.

_Thou needs to learn to keep sight of thy light, Ziaxe._ It was a different voice this time. It sounded like a strange, gentle male voice like a righteous adult who knew right from wrong. Ziaxe was hit with a sudden wave of relief as the light came closer to him.

Looking at the blinding light, he saw something though. A blonde haired figure was standing with its back turned to him. The figure's hair was as bright as the sun as the light glistened off of it.

_My light?_ wondered Ziaxe.

_Aye, Ziaxe, thy light,_ said the gentle voice. _The happiness in thy life; if thou can only remember the good things, then the bad things will go away._

_My light?_ he repeated, dreamily.

All the pain and darkness Ziaxe had ever known seemed to fly away as the figure turned around and showed a dazzling smile to him. It was a woman—a beautiful angel-like woman.

Ziaxe stopped falling and stood on a new light covered ground that was plain white like a piece of parchment. Happiness took over his mind; ecstasy, joy, elation, and euphoria all took control of him. This woman… just looking at her made his every sad thought go away.

As the light swirled around the woman, she looked like an enchanting angel with sparkling brown eyes. He felt that eternal happiness was just a few steps away from him, but he could not move. His legs were numb as if he was glued to the floor.

The light around the woman shown brighter and brighter until it was so blinding that he had to turn away. He was screaming a deaf scream as the light turned against him.

_No…,_ he screamed. _No!_

The angel's light then turned on him and started fighting against him. His feelings erupted inside of him as the light began to burn him. He did not know if what he felt was hatred, pleasure, anger, rage, or pain….

_I know…. What do I know? Only what I want to know…. I hate what I don't know…. I love what I wish to know… I… I treasure what I have…. I am lost…._

His mind drifted as the burning light devoured him.

Ziaxe awoke in a cold sweat. He dizzily got out of bed and went to his water basin. The water felt ice cold as he put his fingers in it and splattered it across his face. The liquid cleared his consciousness as he returned to reality.

He started to fear he was going mad. The strangers in his dream… the darkness… the light… the angel. It all felt so real. He did not know what any of it meant except for one thing…. The angel—his light and the happiness of his life—was Venna.

He ate his breakfast of ham and buttered bread in the early morning. Sleep never found him again after his nightmare.

He sat at the dining table in the main room of his house alone, staring at the ragged surface of the table. The thoughts of his nightmare were flowing through his mind. He remembered almost every detail of it. Confusion and fear wrapped around him like a snake and refused to let go.

He wanted answers…. He wanted someone to tell him if what was happening to him was serious or just some adolescent phase. His uncle would not be able to help him—he knew that for certain.

_Kron?_ he thought, _could I trust him? He might just think I'm going mad or something like that. _

He continued to run over options around the part of his mind that was still in reality. _Venna?... no…. I don't need her thinking I'm mad…. Kycan?... definitely not…._

Then he thought of someone who he knew could actually help. _Alavar. Professor Alavar…. He would know if this is normal or not._

While he thought, he heard a loud, agonizing moan from Alben's room. _Look who's awake_, he thought with a roll of his eyes.

The door to his uncle's room slammed open and crashed against the wall. Alben came limping out towards the dining table. He fell into a seat across from Ziaxe.

"What are y' doing?" he asked, less intoxicated than earlier.

"Eating," replied Ziaxe, not making eye contact.

"Why're y' up so early?" mumbled Alben, as he examined a cut in his tunic.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why?"

"I just couldn't," said Ziaxe, getting a little irritated.

"Didja have a nightmare?" Alben speech was getting more slurred as he spoke.

"You could say that, I guess."

There was an uncomfortable silence in between them for a few moments.

"Y' know," started Alben, "it's yer mother's birthday today."

Ziaxe was surprised that Alben actually knew something that wasn't related to rum. "Aye, I know."

"Aye… I remember… her last birthday a couple years ago…. We had a great time with the family an' she was pregnant with ye. I can't remember how many months though. An' then a couple days later, ye were born… an' she died…."

Ziaxe noticed Alben looked miserable and forlorn as he spoke. The drunken man looked distantly away from his nephew and continued to speak.

"I didn't understand why though…. Why did she die an' leave me like this!"

The scream startled Ziaxe since it was extremely unexpected. He feared that Alben was about to go into a drunken rage.

"She lef' me!" continued Alben. "Me family is dead; I didn't need to lose her too!" He stood up and walked to the window, tears falling from his face. "Why! We were goin' to live happily in this here simple paradise!"

Ziaxe was too afraid to continue eating. He was staring at his uncle's back with a frightened expression on his face.

Abruptly, Alben turned from the window and sent a morbid stare at Ziaxe. His tear covered face with multiple wrinkles focused on the young boy at the table who had killed his sister.

"It was all of his fault!" screamed Alben, furiously, seeming to talk to himself. "I always knew he would be a horrible husband! He was some outcast who decided to live with us in Salras. After the Vician War, we didn't know what to do…."

There was a pause, as Alben stared at the ground as if he wanted to take all of his anger out on it. Ziaxe had no clue of what he should do. He wondered if he should slowly run away before Alben did something foolish. He hoped that Alben was done, but then the drunken man continued, sounding less angry but more distant.

"We saw the dangers of the comin' war before it started an' sailed to the Abandoned Islands of the East. There we waited, happily living off of the island's resources. Our friends from Salras had brought us news of the kingdoms bein' destroyed by Vician. The Accursed King began takin' over Sargenia an' Zaria. Before the year was over, we were joined by several other citizens of Salras before it was conquered.

"The monstrous Vidians an' the other Armies of the South continued north through Sarbenia killin' everythin' in their paths. They conquered nearly all of east Sargenia an' then they came to Berania.

"Though Berania had its Great Walls there was still doubt if the Armies of the North would win. They were surprised… an' with that element any army can win a war. The South had the power and elements on their side, we were meant to lose. That chaotic war was won through luck. That's all."

He sighed. "Levandra and I returned to Salras after it was Vidian-free an' that's when he showed up. He 'loved' her an' persuaded her to go to Berania with him. He said it would be safe fer everyone. That was in the beginnin' days of General Virok's service; he said we would all be safe as long as Virok is Broniton's right hand man.

"But I don't give a damn about which place woulda been safer. He, Javen, yer father, got her pregnant and lef' after yer birth and her death! He must've planned to run away ever since the beginning. That damn bastard!"

Ziaxe sat motionless as Alben surprised him with the tale. He wondered if he had ever heard Alben talk this much before. _My parents,_ he thought, _seem to have caused him so much pain. Sometimes I wonder if there is more to Alben than meets the eyes._

Alben walked swiftly behind Ziaxe, making him flinch. He grabbed a slice of Ziaxe's ham and walked to the door.

Looking back at Ziaxe, who was staring at the opposite wall stuck in thought, Alben said one last comment, "I knew he was goin' to be a horrid husband all along, but she wouldn't listen to me! All I can say now is that… she was a damn fool."

Alben opened the door, and slammed it behind him. He walked outside, alone, into the cold, stillness of early dawn, chewing on his slice of ham. The strange thing—that Ziaxe noticed—was that he forgot his rum.

As the hours passed, Ziaxe got ready to go meet his friends by the pond. He changed his clothes and washed his face in the water basin.

When he left, his mind lingered on his dream and on Alben's story. _I think either the world is going crazy… or me,_ he thought as he walked to the pond.

When he got to the circles of boulders, he saw Kron and Venna sitting on two of the small boulders in the inside circle. In the outside circle, he saw Nea looking out at the pond, and Srion talking with Kycan. He automatically sat on the boulder next to Kron.

It seemed like a quiet and peaceful day. The birds chirped as they flew over the Great Walls, and Ziaxe heard the relaxing sound of the slow current of the stream that empties into the pond. The sun was neither too warm nor too cold, and the sky was a bright blue. He and his friends talked about miniscule things for a while enjoying the serene atmosphere.

He looked over at Nea, over by the pond. The lonely girl with big blue eyes was lost in the bright blue water. He felt a sudden sympathy for her so he left Venna and Kron to go talk to her.

"Hello," said Ziaxe, when he stood behind the boulder next to her.

"Hello," she said timidly with a small smile on her face. Ziaxe was amazed at how greatly her blue eyes compared to the pond's blue water.

"Uh… may I sit here?" he asked, a little awkwardly, indicating the boulder next to her.

"Sure…"

He took the seat, and they sat quietly for a while, losing themselves in the pond's beauty. Various types of fish swam happily in their large world of water. The sun's rays reflected off of the clear water, and Ziaxe could see himself with Nea.

He watched as the fish swam through the water to the stream, and out through the culvert in the Great Eastern Wall. When Ziaxe saw the culvert, he remembered what had occurred last night where he saw someone walking against the wall from it. As far as he could see, the culvert remained unaffected and showed no signs of being intruded by some outside force. It confused him as he thought of who could have penetrated the Great Walls.

The thought of last night reminded him of his strange dreams. He had decided to go speak to Alavar about them, but he had no idea where the professor was at this time.

"Nice pond… don't you think?" asked Nea, breaking the silence as Ziaxe had looked around for the professor.

"Huh?" said Ziaxe, remembering that she was there. "Oh… yes. I guess so."

"Aye…. Those fish are pretty lucky… to be able to leave whenever they want to. Do you ever think about what's on the outside?"

Ziaxe was surprised to hear another person's curiosity of the outside world. He wondered how many other people in Berania thought the same way. "Actually… I do. I've been thinking about that a lot lately."

"Really?" she said, amazed. She looked at him with a joyful smile and said, "I always think about it. I feel that even though the professor teaches us so much, there is still so little we know about the real world. We may feel so small in this large city with its Great Walls, but these walls are nothing compared to out there. I hear that there are mountains that touch the sky; oceans that go for thousands of miles; and fantastic cities that put Berania to shame."

"You shouldn't speak ill of our city. And where do you hear these rumors?"

"The professor told them to me before. He agrees with me about how our generation knows very little about our kingdom. Did you know that we have a prince?"

"A prince? No. The King has never married nor had children." He started to feel aggravated at his lack of knowledge and how the blue eyed girl spoke as if everybody knew about what she was saying.

"No, you're wrong. The professor said that the king married a long time ago and had a child named Farli. But then the queen died of old age or something like that. No one seems to know about the prince or the queen. It's strange, really. Farli is supposed to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. The professor says that the king is nearing the end of his life too, but it's okay since Farli is old enough to inherit control over our kingdom."

"Wow," said Ziaxe, amazed at the sudden burst of knowledge. "Alavar really said all of that?"

"Yes," said Nea, happily.

"I guess there is very little I know…. How come Alavar never told anyone else this?"

"I don't really know," she said with a confused expression. "The professor said something about how it would be mutiny if he told everyone about everything."

"That is strange." He pondered what he had learned. He felt suddenly very useless.

They sat silently for a few moments.

Nea broke the silence and said, "Well… it was nice talking to you, Ziaxe." She stood and stretched. "I should be leaving for home though. I have to help with Mother's work."

"Nice talking to you too, Nea," replied Ziaxe, as he continued to stare into the pond pondering the things that have happened.

As Nea turned around to walk to her house, Ziaxe heard her giggle. It was a kind of sweet, innocent giggle that makes one smile no matter how hard one resists. Ziaxe smiled, inevitably, as he turned to watch her go. _Aw man,_ he thought_. Of all the things I just learned about, I think girls are still the most confusing. _

Ziaxe started walking back to his friends after a while of staring at the pond. Kron was still talking to Venna on the boulders when he returned. He took his seat next to Kron; they took a moment to acknowledge that he had returned, and then continued talking.

He sat in silence still going over all the things he had learned. There was a prince of Sargenia? How could he not know this? It seemed that the prince must be either hidden from the common people or not that important for the people to know about. But how could the prince of his kingdom not be important? Sargenia has been nearing the time where it will need a fresh young heir to rule when the king is deceased.

His thoughts did not go far when he saw Kycan giving strange looks at him from a couple boulders away. The looks were those of a strange mixture of fear and anger. They were the same looks Kycan had given him yesterday when he claimed something was wrong with his eyes.

After a few moments, Kycan walked over to Ziaxe and his friends with Srion close behind. He looked at Ziaxe with a raised eyebrow as if examining him like he was some strange creature.

"What do you want, Kycan?" asked Ziaxe, inevitably sounding rude.

Kron and Venna stopped what they were talking about and stared at Kycan.

"I just want to know what you are, Ziaxe," replied Kycan as if his question made logical sense.

"What? I'm a human—a Sargenian." Ziaxe was growing slowly irritated.

The blonde haired boy sighed as if he felt he was dealing with a foolish child. "Listen, Ziaxe, I know there's something strange about you. Yesterday, you're eyes turned an unnatural shade of red, and it was just… alarming…."

Ziaxe was puzzled. "When did this happen?" He looked at Venna, but she wore the same confused face as he did.

"Yesterday… when I found your uncle. You got mad and you looked like you were about to punch me. But then when your eyes changed color, and it changed my view of you."

"How come we didn't see this?" asked Kron, who obviously thought Kycan was lying.

"I'm not sure. His eyes must have changed back after he became less angry, but listen, Ziaxe, you know what this means, don't you?"

"What?"

"My father had always told me about this symptom, and what should be done if this happens." He looked solemnly at Ziaxe and said, "Ziaxe, you're a Vidian."

"What?" screamed Ziaxe as his heart sunk into his stomach. He was both angry and afraid of the accusation. "Why should I believe that?"

"Well, whether you believe me or not, I speak the truth. And I'm serious about this. All Vidians have these strange abilities. When they are about to do something with the darkness, their eyes go as red as blood. My father served in the Battle of Berania so he knows about all the tricks of the dirty Vidians.

"I don't want you to be a threat to this glorious kingdom, Ziaxe. My father raised me a pure-blooded Sargenian, and he always told me not to trust foreigners—especially Vidians. And I know the stories of your father being a foreigner. My father always said, 'never trust a foreigner who may have the power to hurt the Crown.' So listen, I don't care what the hell you are, but if you cause a rebellion I will personally torture you under King Broniton's word."

Ziaxe started at the sudden threat. _I can't believe this_, he thought. _Being accused of something because my father might not be a Sargenian! I can't believe I don't even know my true race. Would Alben know?_ Then the words from his nightmare came into his mind again. _I only know what I want to know._

There was a moment of silence as the others were completely still as if expecting some truth to come out. Ziaxe stood up at Kycan with fierce anger growing inside him. "That's it, Kycan," he said, staring maliciously into Kycan's eyes. "I challenge you to a battle."

Ziaxe heard Venna gasp, and Kron suddenly got up. "Wait a minute, guys," said Kron moving in between Kycan and Ziaxe. "There's no need for a fight."

Srion also came in between the two and said a little nervously, "he's right, Kycan. Besides we've known Ziaxe our whole lives. If he or his family was planning something I think it would have happened by now."

"I'm just trying to protect Berania, Srion," replied Kycan. His eyes gazed angrily back at Ziaxe. "Ever since I met you, Ziaxe, back when we were all young, I had my worries of who you were. All the rumors about you having family outside the Walls were disturbing to me. I've always had a fear of the things outside these walls, I admit that, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid of _you_. I accept your challenge."

"All right," replied Ziaxe, still furiously angry at Kycan. "Right by the pond, with our training swords. Get ready."

Everyone seemed surprised at Ziaxe's sudden change of emotions. Kycan agreed to the battle, and he went to his house to get his wooden training sword. Ziaxe also went to his house quickly to get his sword.

When he came back to the pond, he was attacked by Venna's screaming, "ZIAXE! What are you thinking?"

"What?" replied Ziaxe. "I did what I had to do."

"Ziaxe," said Venna with a softer tone. "You didn't have to do that. Words can't hurt you, and not to be rude, but I don't think you're ready to fight Kycan."

"I don't care, Venna. He insulted my family and honor. He can't just call me a Vidian!"

"I know that was cruel of Kycan to do, but still, Ziaxe, where is your common sense!" Poor Venna looked frightened at what was guaranteed to have happen. Ziaxe knew he would have to fight Kycan one day instead of hiding behind Kron.

He looked at Venna. It surprised him that he missed how beautiful she looked today. Her long blonde hair shined in the sunlight, and her brown eyes glistened with fear. _Even when she's worried, she's beautiful,_ he thought with a small grin.

A group of the other peasant teenagers of the poor district had gathered in a big circle by the stream on the far side of the pond. Ziaxe made his way through the throng of excited people who were are murmuring and chattering to themselves. He saw Kron and Kycan in the middle.

Ziaxe went to stand next to Kron. "Wow," he said wryly to his friend. "Rumors spread fast I guess. Sometimes it seems that people care more about the lives of others than their own."

"This is no time for jokes, Ziaxe," said Kron solemnly. "Now I'll just warn you that Kycan's training sword is a little mightier than yours so watch out. I understand that you are fighting for honor and all that stuff. Just don't hurt yourself. Also we're pretty close to the stream so don't fall in."

Ziaxe appreciated the advice. "Do you think I have a chance?" he said with a wry face.

Kron laughed. "No," he said shortly.

"Thanks."

Kycan's training sword was about the same length of Ziaxe's, but it had a greater width. It looked almost brawnier than Ziaxe's. Compared to Ziaxe's sword, Kycan's sword looked like a full grown tree fighting against Ziaxe's insignificant twig. They were both real training swords though so Ziaxe had just as much of a chance of beating Kycan as Kycan had beating him.

Ziaxe looked around the crowd and saw several familiar faces including Nea, Srion, Venna, Kron and the other twelve students of Professor Alavar's class. Many of the faces looked full of excitement and enthusiasm while the faces of Ziaxe's closer friends and the others who thought this fight would end badly looked full of worry and fretful.

He could not deny that he felt very anxious about this fight, but he tried his hardest to hide it from the others—especially Venna. Even though the fight was about to start and he needed to be focused at every detail, he could not help looking at Venna and feeling a peace of mind at her beauty.

As he was lost in her face, he was oblivious to the fact that the fight was starting and he just barely missed a lunge from Kycan's blade. The crowd became completely silent. Ziaxe threw himself out of Kycan's range to focus back on the fight. He raised his sword with both hands to block his enemy's attacks.

Kycan made another lunge, but Ziaxe's sword was there to block it. Kycan's mighty sword pushed down on the other; Ziaxe had to muster all of his strength to stay on both feet. But, with one hand on the flat of the blade and another on the hilt, he was able to push Kycan back.

_All right,_ thought Ziaxe, _he focuses more on brute force than strategy. How can I use that?_

The crowd had cheered for Ziaxe's success in fighting off Kycan's blow, but the cheering quickly died down when Kycan returned with numerous strikes. Ziaxe became entangled in a continuous pattern of strong hits to his weapon. He tried his hardest to dodge the blows, but Kycan's last strike hit him horizontally in the shin. He winced at the pain and tried to back away from Kycan, but, instead, found himself falling backwards on the damp grass by the stream.

He cursed himself as he got back up, ignoring his injury. The backside of his hose and tunic were soaked. Furiously, Ziaxe attacked Kycan. He gave up on all thoughts of strategy and resorted to brute force like his opponent.

Kycan looked a little surprised as he parried Ziaxe's attacks. Ziaxe hoped that he could gain an advantage over him, but, despite his attempts, he found that Kycan was barely breaking a sweat.

He felt like a fiery ball of rage was growing inside him. It continued to grow as he continued to fight. The ball grew like a fiery sun, too hot and mighty for any mortal to control. Then, when the sphere grew to be too great to control, he felt a sudden burst of energy. His strikes felt stronger and sturdier. He felt the way he felt when Kycan had been insulting him yesterday. The same feeling of anger and rage….

Then Ziaxe met Kycan's eyes again. They showed the same emotions… the same fear. He realized that something was not right. _Why does he look so terrified?_ he thought. _Are my eyes turning red again? Is there something about this rage I feel that is scaring him? _

He felt stronger and more powerful as if he had gained years of sword training in just these few minutes. _There's something wrong here._

As they continued fighting, Ziaxe realized his vision started to flicker as if he was about to faint. Strangely, he felt no signs of nausea along with his vision problems and continued fighting as if nothing was happening.

Then, while the sword thrashing seemed to be almost automatically controlled by his hands, Ziaxe's vision dimmed dramatically. He continued to fight though ignoring this handicap as if fighting was all he needed to do.

When he thought that he had started to go blind, he noticed that he could still see the people around him… but they were not the same people as before. Everything around him looked like a dark, shadowy, starless night, and the crowd around him became faceless statues draped in dark cloaks. It was if he had entered a nightmare involuntarily. He looked at Kycan's face but saw that he was fighting something else.

He was fighting a strange creature with no eyes, nose, or mouth. Ears were still on the side of its head though, and it still had the same hair as Kycan. The monster's skin was pale and its fingers had long fingernails as sharp as knives.

Ziaxe was so startled, he dropped his sword just as Kycan stabbed at his chest. The pain knocked him backwards to the ground. Everything slowed around him as he fell. He heard every murmur from the crowd, every gasp, every scream, every cheer. He heard the bubbling stream behind him. Many bizarre noises came from the faceless creatures as Ziaxe felt the world falling from beneath his feet.

_Where am I? _ he thought. _Somewhere I've never been?... Somewhere peaceful… somewhere dark…. But what do I know? Only what I want to know._

His back slammed on the ground, and his arms struggled to push himself back up; but the pain on his chest restrained him. He grasped his chest, cursing everything he could: the accursed faceless monsters, the dark world he had entered, and the monster that was still Kycan hovering over him. Then he found himself cursing the unknown people in his dream.

"Damn you," he muttered to the voices in his dream. "Why? What is going on?"

He gave up the attempt to sit back up, and collapsed backwards. He closed his eyes as if hoping to ward off the darkness. He lay on the ground fighting against unconsciousness for a few moments.

Then he opened his eyes.

The darkness was gone…. There was only light now. The noon sun shone brightly above him. He looked at the bright blue sky, wondering if the creatures were gone.

Suddenly, he saw a man whose face was shadowed by the sun above him. "Well, Ziaxe," said Kycan's voice, "I guess that shows who the winner is."

Kycan trudged off with a few cheering voices following him. Ziaxe was disappointed in himself_. I was so close to beating him!_

As Ziaxe sighed to himself and almost lost his fight against unconsciousness, he saw a woman shining in the sun by his feet. Ziaxe made a small smile. _Well, if it isn't the angel herself._

Venna crouched down by Ziaxe with a traumatized face. "Ziaxe, are you okay?"

"Yes," Ziaxe struggled to say. "I'm fine."

Coming from behind Venna, Ziaxe saw Kron's shape approach. "Kron," said Venna shakily, "this doesn't look good!"

Kron crouched down next to Venna and said, "He looks fine, Venna." He examined Ziaxe, apparently studying his wounds. He turned his attention to Ziaxe's face and said, "That was a good fight, Ziaxe. We thought you were about to beat him. I guess Kycan just got that one lucky shot at your chest."

"Aye," replied Ziaxe weakly.

"We better fully check out that chest wound though. It might be serious. Can you get up?"

Ziaxe tried to push himself up but found a burning pain around his chest. When Ziaxe almost fell back down, Venna grabbed him and hoisted him up right.

As soon as he was in a sitting position, Ziaxe saw that there was still a small group of people left from the crowd. Srion and Nea were still there watching him from a distance. Apparently, the others had left with Kycan.

Kron helped Ziaxe take his shirt off. When his shirt was off, Ziaxe looked down at his chest to see a large purple bruise in its center. As far as he could see, there were no cuts or blood.

"See, Venna," said Kron. "It doesn't look that bad."

Venna grimaced at the wound. "Just go find Alavar, please. He'll know what to do."

Kron sighed loudly and said, "Okay, whatever you say." He ran north in the direction of the castle.

Venna then got back up and said, "Stay here." She quickly ran to the remaining crowd and came back with a cloth and bucket of water. She dumped the cloth in the water and rinsed it. "Okay, Ziaxe, tell me if this hurts."

She placed the freezing cold, wet cloth on his chest. He flinched at the cold and said through clenched teeth, "Yes, it does!"

Venna bit her lip. "Oh… sorry, Ziaxe. This should stop any swelling though."

Ziaxe saw that Venna obviously had no medical experience. She held the cloth on his chest for a few moments. An awkward silence soon enveloped them. Venna started to hum a tune and she looked in various directions as if trying to ignore what she was doing. Ziaxe realized how odd it must be for Venna to be penetrating his personal space. He felt his ears get red as he thought frivolous thoughts. He quickly got rid of those thoughts and looked down at the grass by his legs.

Then, the unexpected happened, and he heard her voice. But it did not come from her. She was still looking in the distance at the pond. The voice was more like an inner thought than a spoken word as if she was speaking to his thoughts. The voice said, _Oh Ziaxe…. What am I going to do with you?_

Ziaxe was so shocked, he accidently jumped in his spot. Venna looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Are you okay, Ziaxe?"

"Uh… yes…. Did you say something… before what you just said?"

She looked confused. "Uh… no…."

"Oh… okay then."

She turned back to the pond with a confused smile. Then he heard her voice again. _You're so strange, Ziaxe… but kind of cute._ Venna smiled to herself.

Ziaxe felt uncomfortable and confused at the same time. He tried to adjust his sitting position, but Venna stopped him saying, "What are you doing, Ziaxe?" She grabbed his shoulder, her hands like ice from the water. "You're going to hurt yourself even more," she added with a laugh.

"Sorry," he replied with a somewhat frightened face.

She turned away again with a smile on her face. Ziaxe had no idea what he was hearing. _What is she doing?_ he thought. _Is she tricking me somehow? I don't get it. It's as if I'm hearing her thoughts… but that's impossible. _

Ziaxe began thinking of thoughts of the angel from his dream again. He smiled and stifled a laugh.

Venna looked back at him with a sweet smile. "What are you laughing about?"

"I actually don't know," he replied.

Kron finally appeared with Professor Alavar then. The professor bent down on his knees on the side of Ziaxe opposite of Venna. "Oh my, Ziaxe," he said. "How did this happen?"

Kron explained everything about the fight with Kycan and the final blow to Ziaxe's chest. Like a good friend, he tried his hardest to make it look more like Kycan's fault than Ziaxe's.

"Oh I see," said Alavar when the story was done. "A challenge of pride and honor. Well, I hope you all learned a lesson here. Ziaxe looks fine. He should be good after an hour or so. Nothing looks broken. You two should go home. It's close to lunch," he motioned Kron and Venna, and they hesitantly got ready to leave. Venna gave Alavar the wet cloth when she left.

"Good-bye, Ziaxe," said Venna and Kron as they left.

"Bye," said Ziaxe as he took one last look at Venna, who smiled back at him.

When the two were out of hearing distance, Alavar said, "Ok, Ziaxe, try getting up."

Ziaxe slowly pushed himself up onto his feet with Alavar's assistance. He got steady on his feet, ignoring his pain on his chest, and started walking alongside Alavar.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Lost Prince

"Come along, Ziaxe," said Alavar, "I understand that your uncle isn't home right now. Would you like to come to my house for dinner?"

Ziaxe was surprised at the sudden offer. He had put his tunic back on, and he already felt healed from his wound. "Uh… yes, Professor," he replied, 'if you don't mind, of course."

"Why, it's no bother at all, Ziaxe." The professor smiled and led the young man to his cottage. "I realized earlier today that it is your mother's birthday."

"Yes, Professor. Did you know her?"

"Why, of course I did, Ziaxe. I remember when she arrived in Berania with your father. The year was… 7043 I believe. My memory has been slipping lately it seems."

Ziaxe had not thought about the fact that Professor Alavar may have known his parents or even been close friends to them. They reached the front of Alavar's cottage, and the professor reached into his pockets to find the key. "Did you know them well, Professor?" asked Ziaxe while he patiently watched Alavar fish for his key.

"Haven't I ever told you about them?" asked the professor with a thoughtful look. "It seems my memory is worsening. Oh well…." He finally found a short gold colored key and adjusted his spectacles to examine it better. With a fragile looking hand, he inserted the key into the lock and opened the door.

"Now, let's see," he said as he thoughtfully twirled his beard around his fingers, "your father, Javen, as I recall, was a kind soul who you resemble quite well. He was a good person, of course, but don't get me wrong, he was a brave and powerful warrior also."

Ziaxe had never heard his father spoken of like that. He felt a sudden pride in his family's honor. "Did you know his race, Professor? Did he ever say where he was born?"

"Actually, I don't believe he ever truly revealed that," replied Alavar with a distant look.

They entered the small cottage, and Ziaxe was greeted by a variety of miraculous items. The first thing he noticed was the shining jewels on the dresser by the far wall. That was the first time he had ever seen any kind of jewel, and he instantly knew why people valued them so much. The many jewels shined multiple colors such as red, green, yellow, and blue. On the walls, there were maps of countries far away along with a world map, and also beautiful paintings of mountains and lakes. There were also strange artifacts that seemed to be from foreign countries. Ziaxe had never been in the professor's house before so he was fascinated to see all these rich objects hidden in the poor district.

After a few minutes of staring in wonder at the many jewels, paintings, and artifacts, he was finally able to take in the surroundings. In the very center of the room was a table with two stools for chairs. To the right of the table was a fireplace with pots and pans on the ground for cooking. There was a one person bed by the opposite wall, and it had a small dresser at its foot. Above the bed was a small window that gave a great view of the Beranian Castle in the center of the rich district.

He continued to examine the amazing and strange things in the house with wide eyes and an agape mouth. His mesmerized look caught Alavar's attention immediately, and the professor said with a wide smile, "I see you like my treasures."

Stumbling for words, Ziaxe said, "What is all of this?"

"Just a few things that are found in the world outside of Berania." He went over to the dresser, dropped the wet cloth that Venna had given him earlier, and picked up a shining ruby from on top of his dresser. It glistened a bright red color as bright as the moon in a clear midnight sky. He brought it to Ziaxe, who stared at its beauty with a gaping mouth. "This is a little trinket from Zaria. I found it while researching their glorious knights and all their strange fighting styles."

When Ziaxe was about to grab the ruby, Alavar turned away and returned it to the dresser. Then he turned back and said, "Would you like some stew for dinner?"

"Yes, please."

Alavar sat down on the stool by the fireplace and began kindling some firewood. The room was silent for a while as the professor worked on the fire. Ziaxe looked around at the many items in the house.

One painting of a large lake nailed to a wall attracted his eyes. The lake looked large and never ending. It seemed more like an ocean than a simple lake for he could not see an opposite end to it. The water reflected a bright sunlight, and there were strong, green trees that breathed with life before the lake. Ziaxe felt as if he was in the painting, sitting on the soft grass and watching the world go by slowly around him. "Professor, what's this a painting of?" he asked.

Alavar's fire was now lit and he was starting to cook what smelled like chicken stew. He looked over at the painting Ziaxe indicated. "That is a good question, Ziaxe," he said, "for I doubt you have ever seen this place before. This is the great Lake Berania. It lies right outside the Eastern Wall. Don't you ever wonder where the pond leads to?

"Oh, I've heard of the lake," replied Ziaxe, "but I've just never seen it. I had no idea it could be as big as it looks in this painting."

"Yes, Lake Berania stretches for miles, and then branches off into multiple rivers that lead to the Eastern Sea. Many have tried to capture its beauty with art, but only this Sarbenian artist could ever do that the best, in my opinion."

Ziaxe looked around the house more, his curiosity growing, as Alavar returned to his cooking. He found what looked like a map on the dresser by all the jewels. It was old and crinkly and looked about one hundred years old. He carefully folded it out and saw that it was a world map. He automatically found the city of Berania in the Kingdom of Sargenia. North of Sargenia, he saw the Kingdom of Zaria and the artic wasteland above it. Lake Berania was to the east of Berania, and Ziaxe saw how it was truly a lake that went on for miles. East of the lake was a forest labeled _Treemen Forest_. He had never heard of the "Treemen" before.

In the South-East was the Kingdom of Ravilla and the Sarben Mountains that surround it. Over Ravilla, Sargenia, and Zaria was written The Ancient Kingdoms of Sarbenia. East of the three kingdoms was the Abandoned Islands of the East that held the ruin city of Nizrock.

He continued to examine all the other kingdoms: Dremun, Vilaria, Thrall, Walran, the Harvoren Empire, Vidala, Lysara and Paridon. One thing that caught his eyes was the small strip of land in between Walran and Thrall labeled _Demon-Land_. He knew about demons from Alavar's stories of evil witches and how they have the ability to summon the hideous beasts, but it made him nervous to see that there was a place just for them to live in.

Then a question Ziaxe had thought of before in the past came to his mind. "Professor?" he said. Why wasn't Ravilla involved in the Vician War? I thought they would have helped Sargenia since they are also a Kingdom of Sarbenia."

Alavar had been nearing the end of cooking of the meal. He turned to Ziaxe on his little stool. "That's another good question, Ziaxe. See, Ravilla has been a dying kingdom for a very long time. They had no way of supporting their cousins in Sargenia."

"But Ravilla always seemed like the most powerful of the three since it is surrounded by the Sarben Mountains. They should also be the richest since they have full access to the Crystal Mines."

"You are right, Ziaxe, but they had always been the peaceful ones. They would always try their hardest to solve their problems with foreign countries using peace. This could be because their royal family had always been pure with Sargen blood so they would follow the peaceful ways of the Great God of Light. This, however, was their downfall. In 5962, the traitor Dremuns attacked Ravilla.

"You understand that Dremun is a kingdom that was founded on war and secession. They used to be a part of Sargenia until they were conquered by Vilaria. But then Sargenia retook the kingdom after a few generations. The Dremuns then finally decided to secede from Sargenia. That explains why their people are a confused sort, a mixture of Sarbenian and Vilarian blood.

"But yes, back to the story…. Dremun was able to catch Ravilla off guard by simply pretending to want only peace with their neighbors, and so Ravilla was mostly conquered. King Slavad—the King of Ravilla at that time—was said to be killed. This caused Ravilla to become a Stewardship as they were ruled by the family of Slavad's steward.

"The strange thing was that the bodies of the children of Slavad were never found. Some hope that someday the heir of Ravilla will return to lead an era of peace and love. I don't see a day like that coming any time soon though."

Ziaxe thought about that for a while. It was true that he had never seen a true Sargen, and he would not know what a Sargen would even look like. The stories of the Ancient Kingdom of Sarbenia being ruled by a blessed Sargen King were tales of wonder and amazement. Alavar had always told him and the other students how the Sargens were the chosen people of the Great God Sarben. They were the ones who were meant to rule the kingdom for they knew the true ways of peace and love.

"Why doesn't Ravilla just reunite with Sargenia then?" asked Ziaxe, after his moment of thought. "That would give Sargenia more land, and Ravilla would hopefully get better defenses."

"The answer to your question, Ziaxe, is a somewhat mixture of honor and ignorance," replied the professor as he turned around on his stool back over the cooking stew. "It all begins with the fact that all the Kingdoms of Sarbenia divided to better protect themselves. They thought if they had three separate kingdoms there would be more protection than there would have been with one huge kingdom. But also the blood of the Ravilla royal line is the richest in all the Sarbenian Kingdoms for Slavad was a true Sargen. He was blessed by the Great Sarben to lead Ravilla. The blood of the royal line today is sadly being tainted, and many Ravillas refuse to unite under a tainted king."

"Tainted?" said Ziaxe confused. "You mean to say that neither our Great King Broniton nor the King of Zaria is a Sargen?"

"Yes, Ziaxe. The pure blood is very tainted in Broniton. Though Broniton refuses to admit it, the three Sarbenian Kingdoms have had a little tension in the past few years. Zaria and Ravilla are having trouble trusting Broniton ever since the Battle of Berania where he fought Vician. It confused everyone to see that he was wielding the Blade of the Nizain. I understand that you probably don't know very much about the Nizain, but the Power of the Nizain is usually passed down from father to son. Since everyone was sure that there was no way that Broniton was the son of the last Nizain, there were rumors that maybe Broniton killed the last Nizain and took over his power."

"But a Sargenian king wouldn't kill the Nizain, would he?" asked Ziaxe. "The Nizain protects Sargenia."

"No one can be sure, Ziaxe."

After a few moments of silence, Alavar announced that the stew was finished. He took out two wooden bowls and spoons and poured some of the stew into each bowl. Ziaxe sat on the other stool and took his bowl with a polite "thank you, Professor."

They began to eat what Ziaxe thought was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten. Alben was never that great of a cook, and he rarely ever did cook. Ziaxe hardly ever got a nicely cooked meal for he lived in the poor district so he greatly appreciated Alavar's kindness.

While they ate, Ziaxe remembered something. "Professor?" he said. "You didn't finish what you were going to say about my parents."

Alavar had been taking a sip from his stew filled spoon. When he finished he made a thoughtful look and scratched his beard. "I didn't?" he said, almost to himself. "By Sarben's Light, I must really be losing my memory after all. All right, Ziaxe, let's see. I told you your father, Javen, was a great warrior and a kind man. Your mother, Levandra I recall, was a beautiful woman with long brown hair and deep hazel eyes. Your uncle Alben does quite resemble her. And you, of course, have her eyes."

Ziaxe had always imagined his mother as a beautiful woman who loved everything in the world and saw wonderful light in even the darkest places. He felt a comfort hearing his parents described in a nice manner. "Professor… was Alben always like… how he is?" he asked the question very tentatively, trying not to make it sound rude.

The professor made a somewhat sad smile. "You need to understand, Ziaxe," he said, "that Alben is trapped in a situation not many people can escape."

"What do you mean, Professor?"

"What I mean is that Alben is in a situation that either way he goes about it he will find pain. He became obsessed with drinking after your mother died. I remember the poor innocent man trying to find a way to forget about his pain. He came to my house and told me to watch over you while he said he needed some alone time. I understood his pain of losing someone very close to him so I agreed to watch you for the night. I remember you right after you were born." He chuckled to himself. "It's amazing to have watched you grow."

Ziaxe smiled at the kind old man. He never knew that Alavar had watched over him before. It surprised him that he could not remember seeing this amazing house even as a just born baby.

"Wonderful times," said the professor, still smiling. Then as he returned to the story, his face grew solemn again. "Yes, and so Alben had gone out to the rich district hoping to somehow find a miracle to take away his sadness and anger. He stumbled into a tavern and became friends with the bartender. That was the first time he had ever drank rum, and he has never stopped since. You see, Ziaxe, the situation is that drinking as much rum as he does gives him pain in the morning as he tries to sober himself, but if he stopped drinking he would be reminded of the pain of his lose. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I think I do," replied Ziaxe. "This morning, actually, he seemed to have felt his old pain again."

"Oh yes," said Alavar as he twirled his beard. "Every year on Levandra's birthday he vows to not drink for the whole day. It is very noble of him."

Ziaxe finally understood Alben's strange mood that morning. His poor uncle had been remembering his lose and that brought him pain he was not accustomed to. Ziaxe felt a sudden sympathy for him. His uncle had only been trying to do what his sister would have wanted him to by taking care of Ziaxe.

"I guess so," said Ziaxe. "Do you… know where my father went?"

Alavar's face turned sad as he stared at the table. "Well, Ziaxe, Javen went on an important mission…. It's hard to explain. You'll learn about it someday."

Ziaxe decided to let it drop so they continued to eat the delicious stew. Ziaxe suddenly remembered something important that he was rather hesitant to bring up. "Er… Professor?" he said slowly. "I had the strangest dream last night."

Alavar let go of his spoon and his eyes narrowed. He seemed suddenly alert. "Dream?" he said quickly. "Explain it!"

Ziaxe started at the professor's sudden interest, and then very carefully explained his dream. He began with him being in complete darkness and then to him in the bright light. Also he explained the voices he heard. He did not reveal the identity of the beautiful angel though.

"Very curious," said Alavar almost to himself with a distant look. "You say you heard two voices: one in the dark and one in the light."

"Yes, Professor," replied Ziaxe, anxiously awaiting an answer.

"Well, Ziaxe, this is hard to explain. You may not believe this, but you may have been visited by the gods."

Ziaxe's eyes widened with surprise. "The gods? You mean Sarben and Ziavaxe?"

"Yes, Ziaxe," replied Alavar with a solemn face. "The World of Dreams is very close to the World of the Gods. You may not believe it, but the gods use dreams to contact the ones who they wish to contact."

"Why would the gods want to contact me?" asked Ziaxe, perplexed.

"No one can be sure, Ziaxe, but I want you to listen. I have seen the gods also in my dreams. Know that you are not mad. You are special in that the gods have invited you into their task. We may not know what the task is or when it will take place, but there will be a task."

"Does this include the other gods? Like the ones the Harvorens and Walrans worship?"

"That is not likely, Ziaxe. You are a child of Sarben so He is the one who would contact you. Ziavaxe might have been against whatever Sarben was trying to tell you so He was attempting to interfere with your dream."

Ziaxe was frightened at his sudden inclusion in some divine task. He did not ask to help any powerful god. He was just a simple peasant. "What about what—I assume—Ziavaxe said about my heritage and name?"

"Well, Ziaxe, your heritage is truly hidden by the fact that we don't know your father's heritage," said Alavar, twirling his beard. "We don't know what your true race is. But your name is a different thing. I never understood why your father named you 'Ziaxe.'"

"Why? What's wrong with my name?"

"Ziaxe… your name means 'One of Darkness.' In the ancient times when Ziavaxe ruled the entire world, His followers were called 'Ziaxes.' This was a sign of worship to the God of Darkness, but as the years went by, Ziavaxe lost His control over the world when Sarben came with Light. As Sarben's Light spread around the world, Ziavaxe's religion of the world being once in complete darkness seemed faulty.

"But then a Ziaxe named Vician came along. He seemed to be a prophet of Ziavaxe. He slowly began to gather followers, and the followers called themselves Vidians to show their fealty to Vician. They were simply a copy of Ziaxes, but they seemed to feel more comfortable worshiping Vician instead of a god."

Ziaxe understood that. People always seemed to find comfort in worshiping another mortal person than a divine god. An example of that was the Nizain. People worshipped each generation of the Nizain for they protected the world and kept the balance between light and darkness.

Their conversation died down for a while as they silently ate their stew.

When Alavar finished his stew, he stood up. "This reminds me of something," he said. He walked over to his dresser and opened the bottom drawer. "It's your birthday soon, is it not?"

"Yes, Professor," said Ziaxe as he finished his stew and looked curiously at the professor.

The professor pulled a long object covered in a dirty, white cloth out of the drawer. He brought it over to the table and set it in front of Ziaxe.

Ziaxe curiously removed the cloth from around the object. He found that the object was a bow with a quiver full of arrows. The bow was made of strong, slender wood and was about three feet long. The quiver had a strange symbol on it that looked like the simple letter "V."

"Oh my… thank you so much, Professor," said Ziaxe, flabbergasted, as he examined the bow and quiver.

"Don't thank me, Ziaxe," said the professor with a warm smile. "Thank Javen. This was what your father left for you before he left. I just hope that you feel more confident about your father now. He was truly a great man."

Ziaxe looked at the bow like it was a newborn baby and whispered to himself, "Thank you… Father."

Alavar turned to look at his fireplace with a big grin on his face. The fire reflected off of his half-moon spectacles like a fiery dancer. "Well, Ziaxe, I think it's about time you return home," he said. "I'm sure your uncle is back from the crop fields by now."

Ziaxe seriously doubted that, but he said his farewells to the professor and left with the only gift he had ever received from his father.

As Ziaxe had predicted, Alben was not home. Even though it was nearing sunset, his uncle was still missing. For all he knew, Alben was not even at the crop fields but at the tavern in the rich district instead. Ziaxe found his uncle's lack of a sense of responsibility very irritating. It was nearing winter, and the harvest needed to be finished.

The sun had set, and the moon was rising. But there was still no sign of Alben. Ziaxe grew tired of waiting for his uncle, so he decided to go outside.

The cool breeze of an autumn night greeted him when he walked outside. The stars were out with a cloud bathed moon. Ziaxe felt the peace and relaxation that came with a quiet night. All he could hear was the sound of the wind and the sound of the fish in the pond swimming around in their little freedom.

He walked towards the pond and saw his two closest friends sitting on the boulders looking out at the pond. He felt a short sense of jealousy as he saw Kron sitting with Venna in what some could call a "romantic night." Strangely, Ziaxe saw Professor Alavar also on one of the boulders, looking distantly towards the rich district. It seemed that everyone wished to enjoy the peaceful night.

Ziaxe started to walk to his friends when he heard the sound of horseshoes clopping. He looked at the road going to the rich district and saw a group of approaching men on horses coming at a hastily gallop. The horseman in front was soon clearly visible, and Ziaxe saw that he was obviously someone royal. The man wore mighty gold armor that covered his brawny physique and had a large sword in a sheath belted across his back. The chestnut horse he was riding was obviously a war horse that was bred just for charging and galloping. Behind him were several Beranian soldiers wearing regular iron armor while carrying a variety of weapons.

The lead horseman arrived in the poor district after only a few moments of galloping on his horse. Professor Alavar and Ziaxe's friends showed signs of surprise at the small army. Strangely though, the professor changed his look of surprise to a look of loathing and contempt as if he hated the leading regal horseman.

When the lead horseman stopped his chestnut horse by the boulders, Ziaxe could see that he sat on a saddle embroidered with shining jewels and emeralds of many colors. The man removed his golden helm, and Ziaxe could see that he had a short black beard and black hair. He had a handsome face with blue eyes that looked full of determination. He had the look of a person one would avoid if one had to compete against.

The man seemed to examine Venna, Kron, and Ziaxe for a moment. Then when he looked to Alavar, and saw the professor's look of contempt he raised his eyebrow.

"How art thou, Great Professor?" asked the man with a stately dialect.

"I _art _well, Virok," replied the professor with a tone of insulting sarcasm as he stood up off his boulder.

"Very good, then," said the man, ignoring Alavar's intended insult. "I see thou art enjoying this glorious night of nights."

"Yes, I am…. Now what do you want?"

The man smiled. "The professor is most impatient… like always."

"I'm not impatient. I just can't stand your attempt to beat around the bush. A great general, like yourself, doesn't just visit the poor district on a daily basis." Alavar seemed to slightly enjoy being mockingly rude.

"Well, Alavar, it has been brought to mine attention that Prince Farli has gone missing. I also understand that thou hast been teaching his Highness on certain days. Today just happens to be one of those days. The Royal Guard saw thee at the castle this morning. Wouldst thou knoweth where his Highness may have disappeared to?"

"The prince is missing?" gasped the professor. He genuinely appeared to have been shocked, but he slowly began to smile. "Where could he have gone?" he said with feigned curiosity.

Virok looked like he was about to lose his temper, but he controlled his anger and let out a deep sigh. "Thy humor sickens me, Alavar. If thou knoweth where the prince is, tell me."

"Silly Virok," said Alavar in a joking tone. "Prince Farli is safe out of your grip now. I'd really hate to see what will happen to you when Broniton hears about this."

"I fear no man, Alavar!" screamed Virok. "I know thou art hiding something. If thou dost not tell me now, I will arrest thee for defiance of a royal officer!"

Alavar chuckled. "Look at the _Great_ General Virok in all of his glory," he said sarcastically. "He makes threats just to get attention."

That was the last straw to Virok. "Guards!" he yelled to his horsemen. "Arrest this scum!"

A few of the horsemen dismounted and came at Alavar with spears and swords. Alavar stood still peacefully awaiting them. He was easily chained up and placed on his stomach on a horse.

Alavar was still chuckling to himself. "Goodbye, students!" he yelled to Ziaxe and his friends. "Have a great night!"

Ziaxe was stunned at the suddenness of all that had just happened. He had just seen the famous General Virok for the first time ever, and he should be fascinated to be in his presence. But the general was arresting the closest thing Ziaxe had to a father, and Ziaxe could not stop him.

General Virok reared his horse around and went in front of his men. Before they galloped away, Virok looked back over his shoulder straight at Ziaxe. A strange sense of understanding passed in between them. Ziaxe saw that he had met a powerful enemy.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Witch of the Rich District

The days went by slowly after the arrest of Professor Alavar. When the news of the strange night spread, the curiosity of the peasants of the poor district reached a new high. All of the citizens used to think that Alavar was just a kind old man who loved the world of knowledge, but after Ziaxe's recount of the arrest, the citizens were dubious of the man's true intentions. There was—to put it simply—a lot of confusing and mystifying thoughts amongst the peasants. Everyone knew that Alavar was a famous intellect who has travelled around the world at least once, but the fact that he seemed to have powerful enemies was rather unsettling.

But, despite all the confusion and sadness that Ziaxe and his friends felt, life went on. Ziaxe's birthday was growing near—along with the responsibility of manhood.

On one of the slow, quiet days in the poor district, Ziaxe told Kron all about the things Alavar had told him before he was arrested. He also showed Kron his father's bow, and Kron was nice enough to give Ziaxe a beginning lesson in archery.

"You need to align the arrowhead with your target and slowly pull back on the bowstring," said Kron as he instructed Ziaxe on aiming at a tree by the pond.

Ziaxe took Kron's advice, and his arrow flew true and stuck itself in the tree bark. He grinned broadly at his success. "I did it, Kron!" he yelled enthusiastically.

Kron smiled. "Very good, Ziaxe," he said as he went to retrieve the arrow. "I guess archery is in your blood."

"I wonder if my father was a good archer," replied Ziaxe, almost distantly.

"I'm sure he was," said Kron, returning with Ziaxe's arrow. He put the arrow back in the quiver and took a seat on one of the boulders. "Say, Ziaxe, your birthday is growing awfully close. I have been thinking about doing something for it."

Ziaxe shot another arrow, and the arrow flew true once more to the same spot. He grinned at his accuracy. "What do you have in mind, Kron?" he said as he readied another arrow.

"Well, Ziaxe, my family makes a trip to the rich district around this time—to deliver crops and whatnot. How would you like to come along with us?"

Ziaxe thought about the proposition. "I'm not sure, Kron. The harvest is coming soon, and Alben might need help."

"It'll only be for a day, Ziaxe. Just you, me, and my foster parents."

"I just don't know…." Ziaxe frowned and thought about all the good and bad things of going to the rich district at this time of year.

Before he could get far, though, Kron put on a wry face. "We could invite Venna," he said coolly.

That easily got Ziaxe's attention. "Well… all right," he conceded.

Kron smirked and stood up. He patted Ziaxe's back in a friendly manner.

Ziaxe, however, nearly doubled over from Kron's absently applied strength.

"Sorry," said Kron sheepishly, withdrawing his arm.

"It's all right," replied Ziaxe drily, slowly recovering.

The rest of that day went by quickly. Alben returned home, exhausted from the hard day of work in the fields—or at least that's what Ziaxe hoped he was tired from. Ziaxe's uncle was eating dinner when Ziaxe came home after spending the day training in archery. The usually intoxicated man strangely seemed to have gone through the day without wasting his time and money on rum. He wore clothes that were stained from farm work instead of his usual clothes that were ripped and cut from long drunken nights. For maybe the first time in Ziaxe's life Alben appeared to be an honest working farmer.

Ziaxe raised his eyebrow when he walked in the house as if expecting something else out of the ordinary to appear. "Er… hello, Uncle," he said carefully as he approached the table.

Alben looked up from his meal of what appeared to be a roasted chicken with a side of green beans. There was, oddly, no rum visible on the table. "Hello, Ziaxe," he said shortly and returned to his meal.

Ziaxe thought of his words carefully. "How was the work today?"

Alben shrugged. "Same old, same old."

"All right," replied Ziaxe as he took a seat across from Alben. "How's the harvest coming along?"

"It's coming along great," said Alben as he put down his silverware and tore out a chicken leg to eat. "How was your day?"

Ziaxe was surprised by the attempt at kind courtesy. "It was fine. I spent my day training my archery skills."

"Archery? When did you get a bow?"

Ziaxe remembered that he hadn't showed Alben his father's bow. He saw the potential danger in telling him though. "Kron gave me one," he lied carefully, "for my birthday." He put his bow and quiver on the table.

"From Kron, you say?" asked Alben, a little suspiciously.

"Yes…. His father gave it to him a while ago, but Kron never favored archery that much."

Alben reached out with his hand that didn't hold the chicken wing, and picked up the bow. He examined it up and down and seemed to measure its weight. "It is a very good bow. Very few are this light anymore. Did Kron tell you what type of wood this is made of?"

"Er… no. He didn't know."

Alben took a few more moments looking at the bow, but he seemed to let the topic drop. "Okay then," he said as he returned the bow to the table and picked up the quiver. As Alben picked it up, Ziaxe remembered the letter "V" on it. He hoped that the letter wouldn't mean anything to Alben.

Alben slowly turned the quiver around in his hand. He suddenly froze when he saw the letter "V." "What is this?" he said, suddenly alert. He turned the quiver around to show Ziaxe the letter.

Ziaxe started. "It's a… letter 'V,'" he said hesitantly.

"I know that, fool!" screamed Alben suddenly. "You're lying to me! Where did you get this?"

Fear began to grow inside of Ziaxe, and he began to sweat nervously. "It's Kron's," he futilely attempted to continue his lie.

"No, it's not!" screamed Alben furiously. He frowned in rage at Ziaxe, but then his face slowly changed to a look of surprise and fear. "This… is your father's!"

"No!" lied Ziaxe.

"This is _his_! Where did you get it?"

Ziaxe saw that it was foolish to continue his lie. "It was given to me," he said sullenly, "by Alavar."

Alben looked as if he thought he had been betrayed. "Why would he have this?" He looked at the bow and quiver, and something seemed to pass through his mind. "That's it!" he yelled as he stood up with the bow and quiver in his hands with his chicken wing falling on the ground.

"Where are you going?" asked Ziaxe nervously.

"I'm getting rid of this. This is an evil weapon." Alben looked around the room, and then stomped over to the door to his room.

"No!" screamed Ziaxe, on the verge of tears. "Please, Alben!"

Alben ignored Ziaxe as if the young man was an insignificant creature. He slammed his room's door open and walked to a chest on the far wall.

"Alben, stop!" In his irrational state, Ziaxe grabbed Alben's arm to try to stop him.

Alben turned around to face Ziaxe. His face was red with anger, his teeth gritted roughly together, and his eyes looked as if a fire burned within them. Then, quite suddenly, he dropped the bow and quiver and slapped Ziaxe across the face.

Ziaxe fell back and felt a sharp pain across the left side of his face. His lip started bleeding, and he covered it while grimacing at his uncle. He had grown somewhat used to his uncle's hits that the pain almost quickly subsided.

Alben turned back to the chest and opened it. He picked up the bow and smoothly split it over his knee. Then, to add to Ziaxe's already crushing gloom, he put the now broken bow and quiver into the chest and put a lock on it.

Ziaxe felt tears slide down his cheeks. He went down on his knees and started to weep in his hands. "Why?" he said, his voice cracking.

Alben walked to the young, crying man and put his hand on his shoulder as if trying to counsel him. "It was for your own good, Ziaxe," he said shortly and then walked out of the room.

Ziaxe uncovered his wet eyes and looked at the chest. He felt as if he had disgraced his father by letting his inheritance be easily destroyed. He felt as if his father would never forgive him for his weakness. Everything he thought, he thought for his father. His image of a righteous warrior was the only thing he had left to remember his father by.

That night—if it was even possible—he nearly drowned in his tears.

The next day Ziaxe was in a sullen mood. The destruction of his father's bow had sent him into a profound depression. The week had been very painful for him it seemed. First, he lost the professor who was always kind and loving, and now he lost the bow which was like losing the father he had never known.

But time continued to roll along. The day began with a foggy autumn morning. The temperature was slowly decreasing as winter approached. The oak trees around the pond had been slowly changing leaf color and were beginning to shed their branches. Ziaxe was dreading the approaching cold winter since it was always hard for the peasants of the poor district to find adequate warmth.

He left his house in the early morning and met with Kron by the pond. Kron's foster parents were there along with Venna. They were loading an enclosed wagon with a variety of crops from the crop fields. Kron's parents had decided that they would all deliver the crops to the rich district that day.

When Ziaxe stood behind the wagon looking for some way to help load it, Kron's foster dad said, "Hello, Ziaxe. How are you today?" Kron's foster father was a muscular man with broad shoulders and a clean shaven face. His name was Kalcin, and he was a joyful fellow who enjoyed the honest work of being a farmer.

"Good morning, sir," replied Ziaxe, trying his hardest to smile; he was still haunted by the memories of Alben's rage towards his father's bow.

Kron's foster mother, Salia, also greeted Ziaxe. She was a brown haired woman in her middle years—about one hundred or more years old in Sargenia reckoning. She had a slender figure, and a kind nature. It always surprised Ziaxe to see such happy people amongst the poor district.

Then Venna greeted Ziaxe. She looked beautiful like always. The fog seemed to slowly fade when she smiled, Ziaxe thought. He still remembered the dream where she was a beautiful angel; that thought made him smile faintly to himself.

When all the crops were loaded in the back of the wagon, Kalcin and Salia took seats up front while Ziaxe and his friends sat among the crops in the enclosed back. Kalcin took the reins of the two horses up front and began at a slow canter.

Ziaxe sat by a large pumpkin by the front of the wagon. He looked out ahead behind him to see the slowly approaching rich district. He had been to the rich district a few times in his life on random occasions, but he had never been too excited about it. He lacked a pride for the glorious city of Berania that most other Sargenians seemed to have. He found the royal buildings in the rich district overly exaggerated. The rich people of Berania seemed to love to display their power by making huge buildings that were ultimately pointless.

He also found that Berania was a terrible city because of its social classes. There were fewer poor people than rich people, but the rich people never cared to assist the poor in any way. Ziaxe was sure that if he could get a simple donation from the rich he could help the peasants to live better lives. He sighed to himself for he knew that would never happen.

Venna sat on the left side of the wagon by a large sack of potatoes almost equivalent to her size, and Kron sat on the right side by sacks of carrots and various other vegetables.

Venna wore a contemplative look when she looked at Ziaxe. "Ziaxe," she said, "did you hurt yourself? I don't want to seem rude, but it looks like your lip was cut."

Ziaxe was instantly reminded of his sullen mood, and he looked down. "It was just an accident, Venna," he lied.

"Wait a second, Ziaxe," said Kron, frowning. "This has happened before. Did this 'accident' involve…_him_?"

"Who?" asked Venna.

Ziaxe sighed deeply as he held his head shamefully down. "Yes, Kron," he said glumly. "He also broke my bow."

Kron gasped and then swore under his breath as if he was truly irritated with Alben. "I'm sorry, Ziaxe," he said when he regained his composure

"It's not your fault, Kron," replied Ziaxe, still holding his head down with shame.

"Excuse me," interrupted Venna hesitantly, "but who are you two talking about?"

"It's Alben, Venna," answered Ziaxe.

"I think you should tell us the whole story," suggested Kron.

"All right," conceded Ziaxe. He told them his story of how Alben had turned furious at the sight of his father's bow and quiver, and how his cruel uncle broke the bow in half.

"Hmm, I wonder what exactly the 'V' stood for," said Venna, after the story was finished. "That was obviously how Alben recognized the quiver to be your father's."

"I do too, Venna," said Kron. "It's also strange how Alben called the bow an 'evil weapon.' I don't see how it would be 'evil.'"

"I don't know, Kron," said Ziaxe. "You know how Alben is though. He's just mad at everything."

"Don't say that, Ziaxe," said Venna sadly. "He is trying his hardest. You said he wasn't drinking rum today. Maybe he is trying to quit."

"I wouldn't want to bet on that." Ziaxe looked out the front of the wagon and listened to the steady beat of the horseshoes clopping along the road. The fog ahead concealed most of the rich district, but he could dimly see torchlights upon the buildings.

As they got closer to the rich district, Ziaxe could see the smaller outer houses. Those were the homes for most of the middle class Beranians. The rich class Beranians had bigger buildings near the center of the rich district. In the very center was the Beranian Castle where King Broniton himself lived.

As the enormous Beranian Castle slowly came into view behind the smaller houses, Ziaxe thought about what General Virok said that one night that felt so long ago. King Broniton's son was somewhere outside the city walls—apparently thanks to Professor Alavar's help.

Ziaxe remembered Alavar then. The professor was most likely in the dungeons of the Beranian Castle. He could hopelessly dream of somehow saving the poor professor from what he thought was an injustice arrest, but dreams rarely come true. He sighed glumly to himself. Alavar was long gone.

The horses continued their trot along the road. When they had officially entered the rich district, Ziaxe could hear their horseshoes' clopping become louder as the road turned into cobblestone. The rich Beranians seemed to have decided not to waste money on making the whole road properly cobblestoned by starting the cobblestone road at the edge of the rich district.

"We're almost there, everybody," announced Salia with a smile, while her husband continued to steer the horses.

Ziaxe and his friends stretched out in their cramped seats and looked out the front of the wagon. Ziaxe saw a horde of merchants working their kiosks and trying to swindle innocent rich Beranians as they entered the marketplace. There were some merchants with very expensive looking jewels and crystals. If the crystals were truly from the Crystal Mines in Ravilla then they might really be worth the cost the merchants were auctioning them for, but Ziaxe doubted the sincerity of merchants.

Ziaxe knew the way merchants scam all too well though. There had always been peasants from the poor district who would visit the rich district and return complaining about how they were conned. Ziaxe smiled distantly as he remembered a day from his childhood when a farmer had gone to the rich district to sell his crops to a merchant. The farmer had showed everyone his colorful language when he returned with fake crystals and jewels.

There were also merchants who sold useful objects like tools and food. Ziaxe hoped that he would be able to tell the difference between the good and bad merchants.

They continued until the horses stopped in front of a large kiosk full of vegetables. Ziaxe and his friends got out of the back of the wagon, feeling relieved to leave their cramped seats. They were greeted by the shouts and noises that usually filled a marketplace. There were various farmers, merchants, and shoppers around, doing their different kinds of business. Horses neighed, donkeys brayed, and chickens clucked all around the marketplace along with bustling carts and jingling coins. Ziaxe found a sense of excitement among places with multiple people spending tons of gold coins.

A middle aged merchant with a short gray beard and large belly came out from behind the kiosk with a broad smile across his face. "Greetings, Kalcin," he said as he walked to the front of the wagon.

Kalcin got down from his seat and embraced the big man. "Greetings, Dolbor," said Kalcin. He released the man and softly patted his back. "How goes business, my old friend?"

The merchant shrugged. "It goes well. It's always getting chaotic right before winter. Farmers are trying to make money to buy supplies and so on. How goes the farming."

"Excellent, Dolbor," said Kalcin as he led Dolbor to the back of the wagon. He parted the curtain at the back and showed Dolbor the various vegetables he had grown.

Dolbor's eyes glistened. "Wonderful, Kalcin. Now I'd say it's time to work out a price."

"Yes, of course." Kalcin turned to Kron, Ziaxe, and Venna. "Why don't you three go look around? You've been saving up your money, right Kron?"

"Yes, Father," replied Kron.

"Good. Now run along."

The three friends left and walked around the marketplace. It surprised Ziaxe that Kron had been saving up money. "How much have you been saving?" asked Ziaxe.

"I've got a few bronze coins in my purse," replied Kron. "I was thinking of buying you a present if you'd like."

Ziaxe was touched by the gratuitous offer Kron made. "Well, I don't want to be a burden," he said with a slight smile.

"It's no problem." Kron grinned back.

They continued through the marketplace. Venna lingered by the jewelry kiosks, her eyes wide with greed. Kron had to warn her not to do anything foolish while he and Ziaxe continued to look around.

Ziaxe and Kron found a large kiosk that was selling various metal objects. The owner of the kiosk was a blacksmith with large, muscular arms and broad shoulders. Ziaxe's eyes caught the many swords the blacksmith sold.

"Greetings, young ones," said the blacksmith. "Do I have anything that might interest you this fine day?"

Ziaxe looked at the objects laid out on the front table of the kiosk. There were swords, axes, silverware, shields, pots, pans and almost anything anyone could need. He examined a large iron sword that looked wonderful and mighty with a hilt glittering with jewels. "How much would this sword be?" he asked hesitantly, fearing the answer.

"That sword?" The blacksmith thought to himself for a moment. "That'd be about twenty gold pieces I'd say."

That crushed Ziaxe's hope.

Kron seemed to notice Ziaxe's sudden downheartedness. "How about that bronze one?" He pointed to a bronze sword hanging on the opposite wall.

"Oh, that sword is about five bronze coins," answered the blacksmith.

Kron grinned. "We'll take it." He brought out his purse from his pocket and took out five bronze coins.

The blacksmith took the coins and smiled greedily at them. "Nice doing business with you, gentlemen," he said as he reached for the bronze sword. He put the sword in a sheath that looked very old and worn and handed it to Kron.

Kron then handed the sword to Ziaxe. "Happy Birthday," he said with a broad grin.

Ziaxe was surprised at Kron's willingness to spend so much money on him. He gratefully took the sword. He unsheathed it and heard the steel ring that it produced. It was not the most attractive sword in the world, but it fit Ziaxe's needs. This was the first real sword he had ever held, and he felt himself fill with a great joy. "Thank you, Kron, so much," he said.

"It's nothing," said Kron with a shrug. "You would've done the same thing for me."

Ziaxe grinned at his great friend. He saw that the sheath had a belt connected to it. He put the belt across his chest, so the sheath lay across his back. A great feeling of power filled Ziaxe as he wore his first ever sword.

The two companions walked back to where Venna was still hungrily examining various items of jewelry. She turned and smiled when she saw Ziaxe's present. "Wow, Ziaxe," she said in an awed voice, "a man's weapon." She flashed a little grin, and Ziaxe blushed.

The three continued their way through the marketplace when suddenly a glorious fanfare of trumpets was heard. Ziaxe looked over his shoulder to see a group of trumpeters formed on the sides of the street. There was a group of horsemen in armor walking down the path the trumpeters outlined; sadly, Ziaxe recognized the lead horseman.

The lead horseman clad in gold armor, with a mighty sword belted across his back, led the group of horsemen to the center of the marketplace. One of the trumpeters then announced in a loud, deep voice, "Hear ye! Hear ye! Lend me thy ears! The great General Virok has a declaration to make!"

The merchants of the many kiosks around the marketplace ended their businesses and looked to Virok with utmost attention. Virok removed his helm, and all could see his handsome face bordered by his dark beard and hair. "Attention, ye of the rich district," he announced. "The great King Broniton has issued a draft. All men ranging from sixteen years to two hundred fifty years of age are asked to join. The Beranian army is in need of all the men it can get."

Ziaxe gasped in surprise. This was just what he wanted: to join the Beranian army with Kron.

But before Ziaxe could think more on that subject, a ragged old woman came forth from the crowd of merchants. She had pale, drippy skin and was clothed in an unkempt, grey cloak with many rips and tears. Her gray hair was long, and her pointy noise poked out from the shadow of her hood. She walked limply with a staff in her hand, and a grotesque hump replaced her back. The woman's homely appearance shocked everyone in the marketplace. "Oh, dear General Virok!" she yelled in a shaky sort of voice. "So nice to see thee again!"

General Virok sat with wide eyes of surprise on his horse. He appeared to not deny that he had seen this old woman before, but he seemed to be terrified that she was there. "How dare thee curse me with thy presence!" screamed Virok.

"Now, Virok, I have something to tell you," said the old woman as she slowly came forward to Virok with one arm stretched forward.

"Get back, you vile witch!" Virok reached for his sword and unsheathed it. Ziaxe thought that pulling a sword out on a defenseless old woman was very discourteous. "Thou knowest that thou cannot set foot near me! I told thee that thou hast disrespected our order"

"But I am here to make it all better, Virok," said the woman. She attempted to make a reassuring smile, but her fragile face collapsed as she seemed to lose energy easily. "I have found a child; a child who will help us succeed."

"Cease thy lies, Bellara! We all know thy true intent!" Virok turned to the horsemen behind him. "Guards! Arrest the witch!"

The guards got off their horses with brandished weapons and came forward to the old woman.

"How dare you, Virok!" yelled the woman, dropping her archaic speech while the guards began to chain her. "Master trusted us!"

"Silence!" yelled Virok as he sheathed his mighty sword. "Take her to the dungeons, and let her rot for the rest of her fiendish life." He turned his horse around and let the guards go ahead toward the Beranian Castle in the center of the rich district. Before he left, he looked over his shoulder and announced, "Let this be a lesson, good men of Berania! Any who go against the crown goes against me! While his Majesty may be kind and generous, I can be cruel and vicious! Any fools who dare rebel against my word will be taken to the dungeons where his fate will be decided. Now, with all that said, take heed of my message of the draft. All who wish to join must come to Beranian Castle in a week. Berania expects its citizens to defend it." Then he galloped away to the castle leaving the citizens of Berania flabbergasted.


End file.
